Category: Food

Week in Review – March 20, 2022

“Residency Week 7 – Happy Saint Patrick’s Day”

As the residency winds down, we’re trying to make it to some of the places we’ve wanted to try but haven’t been to yet.  We walked down Magazine to Empanola for Monday lunch.  You guessed it – they specialize in empanadas with all kinds of fillings.  We shared an Argentine beef and a shrimp etouffee.  Delicious!

Damon came in for a few days on Tuesday.  We took him to Que Rico – the Cuban place next door for lunch after he got settled in.  Then we joined Fred and Denny at Monkey Hill for Happy Hour and a few games of pool.  Damon has never been to New Orleans and it was fun to see him enjoying discovering the architecture and charm of the city.  We attempted to have some good oysters and seafood for dinner at Basin Street Seafood  but they were fully booked and very busy.  Plan B was Tito’s Pisco and Ceviche, where we sat outside and enjoyed a very tasty dinner.  They had the scallop special that I had enjoyed a few weeks ago – had to get that again.

Wednesday started with a run in Audubon park where I tried out my new water and phone belt – worked out really well – much better than my phone and water bottle banging around in the pockets of my shorts.  It’s the little things that make a difference.  I was surprised to see that the thousands of ducks are all gone.  I wonder where they migrated to and if they all went in one massive flock (is that the right term for thousands of ducks?)

Denny and I took Damon for a ramble around the French Quarter and Bourbon Street in the afternoon.  Of course he got hungry and had to have a slice of pizza.

The much awaited Dads Steak Night was on Wednesday evening.  We all convened on Kenny’s porch for cocktail hour – it was very sweet to see Denny and Greg chatting away on the porch swing.  To minimize the number of vehicles going to Charlie’s, several of the guys decided to pile into the bed of Denny’s truck.  Not something that you would get away with anywhere else.  There was no way I was getting in there with all the potholes in the roads here.

Charlie’s is a very old school, neighborhood steak house.  There are no menus, the waiter tells you to start with onion rings, followed by a wedge salad, and then describes the different steaks available.  Mason was quite happy with his T-bone and I enjoyed my filet – large enough to have left overs for two brunch omelets.

 

 

The Moms had to have their night out as well.  They tried to go for oyster Happy Hour at Pascal’s Manale but they had a sign on the door saying that they had temporarily suspended the oysters due to supply chain issues.  Plan B was Superior Seafood, which had plenty of oysters and a very nice brasserie type set up.  They followed that with some snacks at the lovely Chloe restaurant.   Seems like they had a very nice evening.

On Thursday, we walked down to Tracey’s in the Irish Channel area to see what Saint Patrick’s day looks like in New Orleans.  As expected it was quite the party, with a block party between Tracey’s and Parasols bars.

 

We enjoyed people watching for a while and then walked through the Garden District for a snack at the Columns.  Damon (has the largest appetite of anyone we know – and is tiny) was starting to get quite hungry and wanted some oysters, so we walked down to Superior Seafood for their oyster happy hour – a great deal.  On arrival home we had covered a solid four miles on foot.

Damon flew back to Philly on Friday morning, and Diana and I revisited the Columns for our regular Friday late lunch date.  We tried the burger this time and it was excellent – bacon and marmalade really making for a yummy treat.  I love the tree in the Columns garden and the view from the porch.

Saturday began with the usual walk/run in Audubon park.  Then we enjoyed another porch concert.  This one on Laurel street next to Patois restaurant – one of the first places we ate in New Orleans.  The folks on Laurel have put together a whole organization that regularly hosts musicians on their porches – a way to keep things going for struggling musicians during the pandemic.  It was quite a professional operation and we had a lovely afternoon.  Sporty’s Brass Band (Sporty is on the trombone) kicked things off and were very good.

Sunpie and the Sunspots played after Sporty’s and made everyone smile with their happy Zydeco style music.  Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes is quite an interesting character, hailing from Arkansas, played in the NFL for the Kansas City Chiefs, is a park ranger and naturalist who gives moonlight swamp tours, and taught himself the Creole dialect so common in Zydeco music.

Diana and I enjoyed a very good Italian dinner at Red Gravy after the concerts.  This is the last of the restaurants on our block that we hadn’t tried yet – surprisingly good appetizers and pasta.  There was a very pleasant jazz trio playing to set the mood.

We’re looking forward to dinner outside at the Chloe tonight with music by Jon Cleary and his band – more about that next week.

Not much time for reading this week with Damon in town – I’ve just made a bit of a start on the Paris Apartment by Lucy Barton – a lot of interesting hints at the mystery of the apartment, but I have no idea what’s going on yet.

Here are three songs that were played between bands at the Laurel Street porch party – I liked them all sufficiently to Shazam them and find out the artist.  I would like to chat with whoever put the music selection together.

Weren’t those all really good songs?

Stay safe and kind to everyone!

 

Week in Review – March 13th, 2022

“Residency Week 6 – Live Music Week”

Monday started with Anne going with Diana over to Metairie (where the big box stores are nearest to New Orleans) to shop for a new oven for her Mom’s house.  Everything was on a long back order and so she didn’t have a successful trip.  But she did learn where all the huge stores like Best Buy and Home Depot are located – they don’t have them within the normal New Orleans city limits – which I think is a nice feature.

We walked to Dos Jefes for the regular Monday night Jon Fohl show, and were pleasantly surprised to find Papa Mali subbing for him.  Mali had a nicely varied set, playing a number of songs he had written with Robert Hunter (Grateful Dead lyricist), and telling some great stories.  Here he is playing “Deal.”

I also enjoyed his version of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.”

We had a nice chat with Papa during his break.  Diana asked him about the song below that he had written about his wife (married for 40 years with 6 kids and 2 grandkids).  The struggling musician actually offered to buy us drinks – silly man – but such a sweet guy.  He noticed a friend at the bar – Dale Spalding, harmonica player for Canned Heat, and went off to coax him into playing in the second set.

Here’s the song for his wife, “Not so hard to understand.”

And then a real treat, Dale Spalding playing the Boz Scaggs classic, “Lend me a Dime.”

An excellent start to “Live Music Week.”

Diana met Debra and Anne for a ladies lunch at Shaya on Tuesday.  They did bring me some leftovers and hung out at the condo for a while after lunch.

“Pogeutry” provided our music on Wednesday at Tipitinas.  This is a band made up of the Lost Bayou Ramblers with Spider Stacy and Cait O’Riordan of the original Pogues from the 1980s.  I loved this show – so much energy and a good lead in to St. Patrick’s celebrations.  Here’s “Dirty Old Town.”  Kenny and Kara were able to join us and both enjoyed the show very much.

 

Spider Stacy is quite the tin whistle expert:

We enjoyed Happy Hour on the Columns porch again on Friday afternoon.  The beet salad may be the best that I’ve ever had – the food has really come a long way under the new ownership.  We laughed at Tim’s patron saint on our walk home:

And the number of beads still in the trees:

It was back to Tipitinas (thankfully a 5 minute walk around the corner) on Friday for a free show by the Soul Brass Band.  Another excellent evening, that ended with McD getting a big hug from the surly bouncer that she befriended over the course of the evening.  Here’s the band performing the Rolling Stones “All Over Now”:

Saturday brought…another parade!  This time the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s parade.  Not nearly as crowded as the Mardi Gras parades, but just as much fun.  I wasn’t expecting cabbages, leeks, and carrots to be typical throws from the floats – you really needed to pay attention.  We all had fun collecting “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” stuff for Anne’s dad, Grandpa Jack.

The krewe came back to the condo to relax after all the fun of the parade.  We ordered Theo’s pizza and the boys enjoyed a cigar on the front balcony.

And then…Diana convinced me to walk around to another free show at Tipitinas – this time Papa Mali, the guy we enjoyed so much at Dos Jefes on Monday night.  Unfortunately, this one was not our favourite – too much noodling around on the guitar and keyboards and not enough song structure.  Oh well – we had an amazing week of music overall.

Sunday was a mostly lazy day and then we joined Denny and Anne for dinner at Jamila’s.  This is a Tunisian restaurant with excellent lamb tagine.  I had been talking to my mum about the place, and she encouraged me to get the tagine and report back about it.  It was thoroughly delicious – so tender and so much flavour.  The place is run by a husband and wife – he manages the front and she runs the kitchen.  So welcoming and funny – we will be back for sure.

We had a drink at Chaise Delachaise before Jamilas.  I didn’t recognize the name, but realized on arrival that we had enjoyed a lovely New Year’s Eve dinner there a few years ago.  So many great places close by in this town.

Enough music already, so I’ll dive right into the book section.

My first book this week was “The Violin Conspiracy” by Brendan Slocumb.  The plot revolves around a Stradivarius violin that is stolen from a black violinist.  It turns out it was given to his great great grandfather by his slave owner.  The story of the violin theft is interesting, but less so than the story of Ray and his journey through racism to become runner up at the Tchaikovsky competition.  I found the first 70 or 80 pages a bit superficial, but really got sucked in when the story flipped back in time to Ray initially being obsessed with playing.

Slocumb holds a degree in music education (with concentrations in violin and viola) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  For more than twenty years he has been a public and private school music teacher and has performed with many orchestras in the region.  All of this makes for some detailed descriptions of violin technique and repertoire that I enjoyed a lot.  I learned what double and triple stops are all about.

I recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in classical music.

Having run out of books on hand – time for a visit to Octavia books down the street – I read one of Diana’s stack.  “One Italian Summer” was a very quick and easy read.  Pretty girly but set in Positano with pleasant descriptions of the food and the area.

Here’s the Amazon summary:

“When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers, and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: to Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone. 

But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life. “

I liked the way that Katy discovers her mom as a real person in Positano.  The construct of time travel seems a bit hokey, but actually works out well in the end.

Stay safe and kind to everyone!

 

 

 

 

Week in Review – March 6th, 2022

“Residency Week 5 – Lundi Gras King and Queen”

I learned this year that Lundi Gras (the Monday before Mardi Gras) brunch at Commander’s Palace restaurant is a big deal with the New Orleans locals.  Anne was able to get us all a reservation and strongly encouraged us to dress up in fun Mardi Gras outfits.  She lent Campbell and Molly some fun duds:

Denny and Anne were also very sparkly – Anne with her band hat and tasseled boots:

And then D with her complete flapper girl outfit:

The food at Commanders is always excellent, with great service and good fun all around.  I met my work friend, Fred, who recently retired.  His family all had matching crazy suits:

A small band toured the restaurant taking requests.  I asked them to play “What a Wonderful World” – and the trumpet player had a great deep, raspy voice:

Here we all are in our corner table after a lovely meal:

And then….as we were about to leave, the lady in charge of the room asked us to wait a minute because she had something for us.  Oh boy, what she had was not anything that I expected.  She quietened the room and then announced that she had chosen Diana and me as Lundi Gras brunch King and Queen.  We were awarded decorated spatulas and then paraded around the restaurant behind the band waving them to all the diners.  Who knew that was a thing?  Apparently the locals did because Debra asked Diana the next day if they had crowned the King and Queen.  Diana had a good story to reply with.

What to do after all that excitement?  How about….another parade?  Yes – this was going to be the last one for us.  Orpheus was quite different with the floats beautifully decorated and lit up – a real feast for the eyes.  I always enjoy checking out the bands warming up in the park on the corner – and St Augustine’s is one of the best in the city:

Here are some pictures from the parade watching:

Yes – even the penguins made it out for this parade.

I had been told that Mardi Gras day begins very early, and there was a rumour that Mardi Gras Indians and bands would be gathering at Tipitinas shortly after 6am.  Vince and I made our way there to check it out.  Galactic was just finishing their overnight show when we arrived.  It was funny to watch the concert goers emerge into the daylight.  The Professor Longhair statue at the entrance was all beaded up:

Kenny and Kara joined us and we waited for a long time – but no Indians or bands.  Calling it a bust, we went back to the condo to get ready for our bike ride down to the French Quarter and the Marigny to checkout all the crazy outfits.

 

The group assembled and then we were on our bikes and off.

After a couple of stops we arrived in the Quarter and stopped to admire all the outfits.

We ultimately arrived at Anna’s in the Marigny and Diana and Debra enjoyed some champagne together.

That was maybe the most fun day of people watching that I’ve ever had.  We were exhausted after the day, but the kids headed off on the bikes to meet up with the rest of the krewe at The Kingpin.  Oh to be in your twenties.

Debra manages Jacques-Imo’s restaurant (first meal Diana and I had together in New Orleans was there) and had secured reservations for us on Wednesday night – a last meal for Campbell and Molly.  Denny, Anne and Jack joined us for an excellent meal.  Debra had arranged a lovely bottle of French champagne for Diana, and loaded the table up with complementary appetizers.  She is so sweet and kind.  This place was quite the opposite of Commander’s Palace – very casual and loud.  The southern food was amazing and the portions so generous that we were eating left overs for two days.  Molly was talking about her fried chicken on the flight home.

Honey was happy to have her parents back home on Thursday, and quickly destroyed her treat from the parades.  How could you be angry with that face?

Campbell texted me, “We had so much fun and will have stories forever.”  Mission accomplished!

 

 

We walked over to the Columns Hotel for drinks and snacks on Friday afternoon.  New ownership has really upped the cocktail and food game there.  It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed passing an hour or two on the porch.

We passed this nicely decorated house on our walk down Marengo to The Columns.

Saturday started with a pleasant run in Audubon Park and a trip to Octavia Books where D stocked up on reading material for her sun-bathing sessions on the back terrace.

In the evening, we picked up Denny and Anne and drove to Faubourg Brewing in East New Orleans.  It used to be called Dixie Brewing, but has changed like so many other businesses as the Dixie statues and monuments have been removed.  Sun Pie and Gal Holiday were both performing outside on the expansive lawn.  Gal sat down at the table with us and rapidly consumed a bunch of crawfish before her set – she had some great peeling and eating skills.

There were several games available on the lawn and I was very impressed that Denny was able to outplay the Connect 4 champion McD.  You could tell he was really concentrating.

We enjoyed some chargrilled oysters and boudin egg-rolls and called it a reasonably early night.

Sunday’s run was in the Riverside part of Audubon – an experiment that we won’t likely repeat – the pavement is just too rough and unpredictable for a leisurely run.

In the afternoon we attended another porch concert.  This was hosted by one of Anne’s tennis ladies who was celebrating her birthday.  These started as a way for musicians to make money during early COVID and I hope they continue.  Just a great way to pass a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon.

The band was The Walrus and they played all Beatles music – and played it very well.  A nice selection from all the albums.

There was an interesting moment when one of the guitar players amplifier broke down.  No worries – the man of the house quickly nipped inside and emerged with a replacement.  “The beauty of playing at a musician’s house”, said the singer.  I did chuckle at the guys in their “Laissez Boy” recliners, fresh from the parades.

Kenny and Kara joined us for pizza at Theo’s.  It was nice to sit outside, enjoy the yummy pizza and tell stories.

I finally finished “The Great Wide Open” by Douglas Kennedy.  Almost 600 pages long and pretty dense, but a really good read.

Here’s the summary from Amazon:

“Alice Burns – a young book editor – is deep into a manuscript about the morass of family life. The observations within resonate, perhaps, because she has just watched her own family implode.

As she reads she wonders: When did the sadness start? And could it be that unhappiness is a choice?

Thus begins a great American epic which follows Alice as she navigates high school, first love and sexism at an elite college, a spell in 1970s Ireland, and a tragedy that sends her stateside as the US embraces a cowboy actor named Reagan.

But it is also the tale of her endlessly complex parents and brothers – how their destinies are written by the lies they tell themselves and others.”

The book started out very well but veered into a bit of unbelievable territory in the middle sections.  There’s only so much that can realistically happen to one family, and I felt that Kennedy was trying to cram in too many historical references and events.  That being said, I still recommend this read if you have the patience for such a long book.

This Tom Petty song was in my head each time I picked up my book:

Here’s one from the late keyboard player, Chuck Leavell that I’ve had on pretty heavy rotation this week:

Stay safe and be kind to everyone!

 

 

 

Week in Review – February 27, 2002

“Residency Week 4 – More Parades!”

V(W)ince and Lori arrived on Monday morning from Philadelphia.  They got settled in and then we walked across to Shaya for a lovely lunch on the patio.  I can’t say enough good things about this restaurant.  Diana was raving about the French white wine, and of course Vince was listening and sent six bottles as a thank you after they left.

Their daughter, Emily, came across to the condo and hung out with us on the balcony for a pleasant couple of hours.  She and her boyfriend live in New Orleans while he’s doing a course at Tulane.

The Tuesday puzzle was clever – celebrating 2/22/22:

Oysters were in heavy demand on Tuesday, and so we went down to Royal Oyster House in the French Quarter.  Everyone got their fill of oysters – mine chargrilled, and then we rambled around the Quarter for the afternoon.   I love this picture of Diana dancing to the gentleman on the balcony who was playing music, miming the lyrics and blowing bubbles.

 

Denny and Anne met us at Lafitte’s and then we walked to the old US Mint for a free concert on the balcony by Corey Henry (trombone), followed by the Hot 8 Brass Band.  It was very nice to see all the families with young children enjoying the music on the lawn.

Here’s a little taste of Corey Henry:

And here’s the excellent Hot 8 Brass Band – I love these guys:

La Petite Grocery was our dining destination on Wednesday evening.  Vince, Lori, Emily and Mark joined us and the food was even better than I remembered.  The scallop appetizer and turtle bolognaise were both perfectly executed.  Even Vince, a chef in Philadelphia back in the day, was very impressed.

Oh, oh, I almost forgot the butterscotch pudding – so yummy.

Before dinner, we checked out the assembling parade.  The marine band was very serious, but Lori coaxed a smile from the sousaphone player.

I had made an appointment for a haircut and beard trim at the Barber shop down the street for Thursday lunchtime.  This place was a hoot from start to finish.  The constant banter between the two barbers, the glass of bourbon I was “forced” to consume, and the carnaptious dog asleep in the corner all made for quite a unique experience.   McD was out for a walk and stuck her head in to check on me – she was quite entertained by the show.

More parades rolled on Thursday evening and we enjoyed them all – Babylon, Chaos, and the local favourite Muses.  Hand painted shoes are the treasured throw at Muses and you really have to know someone on the floats to have a chance of getting one.  Well…that’s what they say anyway, as Lori was able to come home with two beautifully decorated shoes from her very first Mardi Gras parade.

Vince and Lori moved over to stay with Emily and Mark on Thursday, making way for Campbell and Molly to arrive on Friday evening.  I picked them up at the airport and then we went to Denny and Anne’s to wait for the parades to finish.  One feature of our condo that we didn’t realize ahead of time is that it’s “inside the box.”  The box being the part of town that you can’t drive into or out of while parades are rolling.  The whole krewe was over at Webster Street to welcome Campbell and Molly.

Saturday saw Campbell and Molly at their first parades – Iris and Tucks (my personal favourite.)  They had an absolute blast catching throws and interacting with the krewe.

After Tucks, we went over to a house party where Deacon John was playing a show.  Great fun and a really good band.

A quick sample of Deacon John and the scene:

Sunday brought – yes, you guessed it – even more parades with Okeanos, Mid-City and Thoth (pronounced Toeth), even though Campbell and I tried our best to convince Diana that it’s “Thoath.”  Jack got a very entertaining outfit from one of the floats.

And another house party after Thoth – down in Audubon park, close to Fred and Kelly’s house.  The band was great and everyone had an excellent time.  Campbell was amazed that folks put on such a great event for their friends with no entry fee or wrist band required – you just have to know about it through the local grapevine.  Some burgers and hilarity at Fred and Kelly’s home and then it was time to close out a very fun filled week.

Same story again this week – not much time for reading – still ploughing through “The Great Wide Open” by Douglas Kennedy.  Hope to finish this coming week and tell you about it.

Campbell had this song in his head the whole time he was here, and would walk around singing a couple of lines:

I think he picked a great song to get stuck in his head.

This one is a bit unusual for me, but I’ve really been enjoying the clever mix of Walk on the Wild side bass with the other more hip hop elements:

Stay safe and be kind to everyone!

Week in Review – February 20, 2022

“Residency Week 3 – Happy Saint Valentine’s Day”

Rather than deal with the crowds for Valentine’s dinner, I talked Diana into a picnic in the lovely Audubon park.  We picked up supplies (sandwich and salad) at the wonderful St. James cheese shop on Prytania Avenue, then made our way to a relaxing spot beside the lake.  BP was very pleased to be included and had a ball watching all the arguments and other activity in the duck population.

We walked down to Baru tapas restaurant for Tuesday dinner.  I had been there years ago on a boys’ trip and really enjoyed the food.  I’m glad we went when we did as Baru has been closed for renovations for the last few weeks.  The food was as good as I remembered – arepas and croquettes – right up K alley.

Wednesday started out poorly for me.  “What happened to cause that?”, you ask.  Well…Diana beat me on the crossword with a sub 6 minute time – she’s getting pretty fast with her new, larger phone.  Going to have to really pay attention going forward.

Things picked up later in the day with a fun “work” event.  A virtual scotch whisky tasting masterclass hosted by one of our vendors.  They shipped me a couple of really delicious and quite different whiskys to sample with the on video expert.  I really enjoyed the hour of sipping and learning.

We woke up to this view from our balcony on Thursday – how did that happen?  It took several hours to clean up and Diana saw the policeman who had obviously just written an upset lady a ticket, pause and give her a big hug.  Nice to see.

 

 

 

Our first Tipitinas show was John Cleary and the Monster Gentlemen with openers Cha Wa.  BP did sneak in – and without paying his cover – bad penguin!  Cha Wa were fantastic with their Mardi Gras Indian outfits and all.

Jon Cleary had an excellent band and really entertained us with his New Orleans style piano and singing.  It’s so nice that such a world class music venue is only a 5 minute walk from the condo.

On Friday, I treated Diana with a trip to Effervescence in the French Quarter.  This is a place that specializes in everything champagne related.  Diana had a flight of three different glasses that she really enjoyed.

After champagne, we walked down to Jewel of the South – a Denny restaurant recommendation.   Probably the most creative and precise meal we’ve had so far on the residency.  I was able to get a drink that I liked – and it was wonderfully balanced and delicious.  Bone marrow custard, foie gras mousse and a celery root dish were all excellent.  We’ll need to try and sneak in another visit to this gem before our stay is over.

Saturday was a busy day.  It started out with a run in Audubon park – Laura was the pace setter – I didn’t even try to keep up.

The parades started in earnest on Saturday, with Choctaw, Freret and Sparta all rolling down Napoleon – 2 blocks from the condo.  The crew assembled and we had lunch at the local Cuban restaurant before getting in position for the parades.  Denny and Alex picked up some Mardi Gras shirts next door – very bright and sparkly.  Here’s some of the parade action:

 

All the way from home.

The Krewe.

Professor Longhair float.

Dr. John float.

“Throw me something Mister?”

That’s a ring that one of the riding Elvis troupe put on Diana’s finger.  Should I be concerned?

That last one shows D up on the ladder that the family next to us brought for their kids.  And this video shows her nimble hands catching beads:

A group next to us had way too much crawfish, shrimp and corn leftover, and so we all retired to our back terrace and enjoyed that.  Then there was a silly dance party to follow.

Sunday brought even more parades with Carrolton and King Arthur.  The weather was really perfect for standing outside.

Diana went to quite a bit of trouble to get through the crowd for the picture of the Budweiser Clydesdales – so majestic.

I know a lot of folks have a misconception that Mardi Gras is just one big, crazy parade on Fat Tuesday – but it really is a solid two weeks of parades and parties.  And it is certainly a marathon and not a sprint.

This has been a pretty long post, so I’ll skip the music section – and again I didn’t have much time for progress on my book.

Stay safe and be kind to everyone!

 

 

Week in Review – February 13th, 2022

“Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous – Miami Beach edition”

We started this week with a short trip to Miami Beach.  Our work executive committee and spouses were invited to visit our majority shareholder for a few days of “strategic planning.”

Monday night dinner was at The Patio restaurant at the Continuum resort where Phil lives.  A wonderful meal, with a nice sunset watching detour, from the top floor of Phil’s condo.  And then back to the condo for a late night dance party with DJ Nick.

The tomahawk steaks were delicious.

Diana enjoyed meeting everyone at dinner – here she is in deep strategic discussion with Blair and Phil:

Tuesday started a bit late, but we did get in a solid two hours of strategy discussion prior to a 3 hour lunch at Cipriani in downtown Miami.  What a fancy and amazing restaurant.  The lobster and ice cream were my two favourite dishes.

Meanwhile Diana, Lisa and BP were enjoying a day on the beach, with tacos and margaritas.

Before the beach, McD did go for a run and captured some South Beach views.  All the art deco hotels are very interesting and unique.

We suggested a very well reviewed Greek restaurant for dinner, but the sunbathing beauties quickly nixed that – “We want Cuban food!”  We followed Nick’s recommendation and tried Café La Trova.  This turned out to be a great choice – excellent empanadas, foie gras, octopus, and live music.

After a walk along the boardwalk on Wednesday morning, we made our way to the airport to fly back to New Orleans, and get prepared for Brad and Jocelyn arriving on Friday evening.

Denny and Kenny invited me to join them at Martin’s Wine Cellar for Friday lunch.  I walked over from the condo and enjoyed a yummy salad – as D says, “It’s good to mix in something green sometimes.”  We passed some time listening to music on Kenny’s porch and then made our way back to the condo to welcome our guests.  We dragged them down the street to Juan’s Flying Burrito and they really enjoyed the hearty Mexican food and margaritas after the long drive.  Some pool across the street at St. Joe’s Pub and it was time for bed.

Brennan’s tops most best brunch in New Orleans lists, and so I had made a reservation for the four of us to give it a try.  Diana was quite happy with the fancy limited edition champagne bottle presented.  And also quite happy with her steak tartare – specially prepared without the beets as arranged by our wonderful waiter Didier – even after the more experienced waiter, Antoine, said it couldn’t be done.

Bananas foster was invented at Brennan’s and so we obviously had to give that a try.  Here’s Antoine preparing it table side.

After that amazing brunch, we met Denny and Anne on the patio at Will and The Way around the corner.  Then we had a ramble down bourbon street, before making our way home to prepare for dinner.

Dinner was at Costera – the wonderful Spanish restaurant where we celebrated New Year’s Eve.  We had the chef’s tasting menu and were all stuffed, with lots of paella left overs.  A really fun night with Denny, Anne, Kenny and Kara joining us.

The Klines left to drive back to Austin on Sunday morning.  I think we showed them some great New Orleans highlights in their limited time with us.

Whew- time to relax for a while – that was a busy week!  Didn’t have much time to make progress on my reading – so no update on that front this week.

I really enjoyed this cover of a Paul Simon song by the excellent Brad Mehldau:

The harmonies on this South Austin Moonlighters (Saxon Pub regulars) song are very well done – produced by Anders Osborne.

Be safe and kind to everyone!

 

 

 

Week in Review – February 6th, 2022

“Residency Week 1”

Our first full week in New Orleans began with a pleasant run in Audubon park – we’re really going to enjoy having the 1.8 mile loop so close by.  We did a couple of laps and were amazed at the thousands of ducks around the lake.  I did some research and found this article about them – don’t remember seeing anywhere near so many on prior visits.

https://www.wwltv.com/amp/article/news/local/orleans/black-bellied-whistling-ducks-flocking-to-new-orleans-metairie-parks/289-c026b912-51bd-4a28-a6d0-7200c0dc3287

Retired D played tennis in the afternoon with Anne, while working K attended the quarterly Board Audit Committee meeting.  Hmmm – interesting juxtaposition.

We ordered takeout from Saj, the Mediterranean restaurant downstairs.  While not at the superb level of Shaya, this is a very good option.  After dinner, we made the short drive to Dos Jefes cigar bar to listen to the excellent John Fohl play guitar.  He’s been playing here every Monday night for over 20 years, and was a member of the Dr. John band at their most popular.  I really enjoyed the show and Dos Jefes is a great, low hassle location.

Dos Jefes is located on a street shown in the sign below.  Can you pronounce that?  The locals just say “Chop.”

Tuesday started with another two laps around Audubon park – finishing just before the rain came.  We drove from there to Fresh Market, a local grocery store, and then to Nola Wine, where Diana was added to the database so that they can learn which champagnes she likes.  We’re starting to get settled in to the area, and with much better service than we experience in McKinney.

After shopping, we tried Undergrowth coffee (a couple of blocks from the condo), a Denny recommendation with very good coffee.

In the afternoon, Diana went shopping with Anne for Mardi Gras outfits – specifically something to wear to Commander’s Palace for our fancy Lundi Gras brunch with Campbell and Molly.  She came back with a flapper dress and all the accessories from the store across the street (Buffalo Exchange).  A whale of a deal that includes wig, pearls, feather headband, stockings, handbag, cigarette holder, gloves etc.

Undergrowth coffee provided a good start on Wednesday.  They make a great cappuccino.  Fred and Denny came over for happy hour and then we met Kenny and Kara at Miel brewing.  Kenny had alerted us to a very good lobster roll food truck that was setting up there.  A line started an hour or more before the truck was scheduled to open.  We thought that was silly and didn’t feel the need to stand in line that long.  By opening time, the line snaked back and forward down the street – we decided that wasn’t worth it, and made the short walk to NOLA brewing for pizza.  Very tasty and accompanied by the US vs Honduras World Cup qualifying match.

Thursday was a heavy work day, with a break for a late lunch at Shaya, the amazing James Beard winning Israeli restaurant across the street.  The octopus hummus was ridiculously good – turns out they cook it sous vide for 5 hours to make it so tender.  We also split a lamb burger that was fantastic.  The brick oven bread is also amazing – fresh, light and so tasty.

 

Diana was still hungry and so met her girlfriends for oyster happy hour at Pascal’s Manale.  She wasn’t really hungry – had just pre-arranged the session around Laura’s teaching and research schedule.  They always have such a good time at these events.

Denny and I collected the girls at Pascal’s and drove to Snug Harbor jazz club for a show by Sansone, Krown, and Fohl.  This is a venue like the Kessler – small cocktail tables and a “listening room” experience.  I had been looking to see where we could see Joe Krown, my favourite New Orleans piano wizard, and noticed that he was out of town for the majority of our residency.  So we needed to jump on this show to see him.  I talked about John Fohl earlier – and was able to tell him how much we had enjoyed his Dos Jefes show on Monday night.  These three together in such a wonderfully sounding room were excellent from start to finish.  Just an excellent show and experience.  They recorded an album around 20 years ago that still sounds great and I’ll include that in the music section below.

And, as if Thursday hadn’t been busy enough, Denny and Anne suggested a late dinner at Mister Mao’s.  This is a new place, close to the condo, with very creative Asian food.  The kale pakora, chili verde, and pancake were all very interesting, if not just a wee bit too spicy for my late night palate.

Saturday was spent exploring the Magazine St neighborhood – we walked a couple of miles in each direction from the condo, checking out stores and restaurants along the way – so many great places.

 

I really enjoyed exploring Octavia Books –  a very well curated local bookstore – something that really doesn’t exist in many places.

On our walk back from Octavia, we stopped for lunch at Tito’s Pisco and Ceviche.  It was cold outside, but felt great sitting outside in the sun.  Diana had a delicious ceviche and I enjoyed a scallop special – also delicious.  And of course the refreshing pisco sours.

We laughed at this sign outside a very creative furniture store:

After a few hours of exploration, we feel really pleased with the location we chose for the residency condo.  And happy that we got some good walking done.

Now it was time to regroup and prepare for our first parade of the season – Chewbacchus.  Or more correctly, The Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus.  This is mostly a walking parade and doesn’t have the huge floats of some others.  The krewes are mostly formed around science fiction, nerdy topics – a lot of Star Wars and the like.  Kara was walking in the Wonder Woman group.  The parade was a couple of hours late in starting, we believe because the lead off float couldn’t make the turn on the new route (changed at the last minute because of lack of police manpower.)  We used the time to enjoy delicious empanadas and pupusas at R bar (one of Denny’s favourites.)  The parade was very entertaining when it did start – and a good taster for all those to come over the next few weeks.  Here are some of the sights (Kenny was a red shirt – responsible for keeping the crowds back so that the groups can walk past):

We finished out the night listening to a very good band at the Balcony Music Club (BMC) next to the parade route.

Here’s the Chewbacchus flag on Kenny’s porch:

What a busy and enjoyable Saturday – not the type of day one typically experiences in McKinney.

Things got even more interesting on Sunday – we attended a drag brunch at the Country Club restaurant with Denny, Anne, Kenny, and Kara.  The food was delicious and the drag performances very entertaining.  Why do they always pick on Mr. Denny?

What an eclectic and fun first week in New Orleans.

Meanwhile, in McKinney temperatures were very cold, with some snow.  Our neighbors helped to keep an eye on the pool and did a walk through of the house to make sure we didn’t have any burst pipes.

I forgot to mention the lovely retirement gift box that Diana received from my colleague, April.  She has been making good use of the soft blanket and socks, and I think the cookies are all gone.

I’m skipping the book section this week – too busy and making slow progress on my Douglas Kennedy book.

Here’s my favourite John Fohl song, as promised earlier.  After I listen, I can’t get the opening guitar riff out of my mind:

And here’s a couple from Sansone, Krown, and Fohl’s original album.

This one shows Joe Krown’s piano skills:

And this one is all about Magazine Street:

Stay safe, kind and calm!

 

Week in Review – January 30, 2022

“Let the NOLA residency begin”

This week was all about packing up and organizing for our “residency” in New Orleans.  Diana did a fantastic job of getting everything ready and packed in the Atlas – lots of room thankfully.

Before we left I had one last follow up appointment from my hand surgery.  The doctor said it looked great and it was clear that I had been doing all the recommended exercises.  I’m not sure McD believes that, but I really have been pretty good about doing them several times a day.

We split up the drive to New Orleans with a stop in Shreveport on Friday night.  We didn’t have very high expectations, but were delighted to find the Fat Calf brasserie.  What a wonderful meal – one that I would drive the 3 hours from Dallas to repeat – just amazing.  We selected four appetizers for our meal – all were excellent.  Moules frites, escargots, a duck and foie gras parfait, and quail with dirty rice.  I don’t know which was my favourite, all so well done and delicious.  We’re already plotting a visit on our return drive.

We arrived in New Orleans at 2pm on Saturday and met our hosts in the Villa Vici furniture store below the condo.  Very pleasant folks who helped us unpack and carry things upstairs.  The condo is very sleek and modern as advertised.  We’ve been enjoying the lovely outdoor spaces – balcony overlooking the street out front (great for people watching), and extensive rooftop garden area out back (gets wonderful sun in the morning for coffee and the crossword.)  There are a few sheep happily grazing on the rooftop:

We met Kenny, Kara and crew at the Westin in the French Quarter around 4pm for the Happy Hour show by Kenny’s cousin, Tim Laughlin on clarinet.

It was a real treat to meet Kenny’s Mum, Miss Sue.  We really enjoyed the excellent music and time to relax and catchup.

The view of the Mississippi and the Quarter from the Westin are quite impressive.

After that lovely arrival music, the Ogans and Kirschs came back to the condo with us and we ordered Thai food from Pomelo – directly across the street.  Pomelo describes their food as “street style Thai.”  It was quite good, but different than the traditional curries that we’re used to.  We had a great time hanging out and catching up with each other.

Denny and Anne arrived with a Mardi Gras starter kit:

Sunday started with a long walk down the Nashville Avenue “neutral ground.”  This is what the grass area between lanes in the middle is called.  There’s a nice path winding all the way down.  We made a turn on to Freret Street (Kenny’s neighbourhood) and enjoyed a coffee from Mojo before walking back home.

Our appetites were suitably worked up now for brunch at Atchafalaya – one of the more popular weekend brunch restaurants.  I absolutely loved my duck confit hash.  The blackberries and mangos listed on the menu made me a bit nervous, but they complemented the duck very well.  Diana loved her Bayou Benedict.

I made it back to the condo in time to watch the Bengals defeat the Chiefs by 3 points in the AFC Championship football game – the result that I had predicted on a work call on Friday.  That was only after a very nerve wracking overtime session.

Kenny and Kara had us over for burgers and to watch the NFC Championship – Rams versus 49ers.  The team I was hoping would win was again victorious.  It will be the Rams and Bengals in the SuperBowl in a couple of weeks.

What a great couple of starter days to the residency.

I added a new puzzle to my daily crossword routine.  “Wordle” is a game that was created by a gentleman in the U.K. to play with his wife.  You get zero instructions – just 6 chances to find the Wordle of the day.  Each attempt is highlighted with green for the correct letter in the correct spot and yellow for the correct letter in the wrong spot.  I think I had significant beginners luck on my first attempts:

This is embarrassing.  I read 50 pages of William Kent Kreuger’s “Ordinary Grace” before convincing myself that I must have read it before.  It didn’t seem overly familiar but there were occasional passages that sounded just like something I’d heard before.  I finally did a search of the blog and found that I read it back in 2018.  Silly K!

After those 50 pages, things got too busy for me to settle down with a book.  I’m looking forward to making up for that next week with some good book time in the rooftop garden.

Here’s one of my favourites from Tim Laughlin, the clarinetist that we saw on Saturday:

An interesting cover of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold”:

A favourite from the excellent Tom Waits that popped up on a playlist this week:

And finally something great from Radiohead that I heard on the soundtrack of a show I was watching, just don’t remember which show that was:

Stay safe, calm and kind!

 

Week in Review – January 23, 2022

“Spouting Volcano on the Horizon”

Monday was Martin Luther King Day.  Here’s an essay he wrote in 1964, after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, for the Berlin Jazz Festival.  What wonderful writing, capturing the role music has played in social change in a compact essay:“God has wrought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create—and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations.

Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life’s difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph.

This is triumphant music.

Modern jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.

It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by Jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of racial identity as a problem for a multiracial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls.

Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down.

And now, Jazz is exported to the world. For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith.

In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these.”

I caught a flight to Guatemala City on Monday afternoon for work.  There were several guys sitting near us who were with an organization called “Stoves for Guatemala.”  Apparently rural Guatemalans often cook on unventilated wooden stoves in single room dwellings, leading to bad respiratory disease.  This organization has built 600 clean burning and well ventilated stoves already.

https://helping-guatemala.com/

Here are some aerial pictures of the Guatemala City area during landing:

BP was excited to be allowed on the trip, and insisted on having his picture taken on arrival at the airport.

I stayed in an area called Cuidad Cayala – a planned city done in the Colonial architecture style.  The GoWork office and restaurants were all a short walk for the hotel, which made things very easy.  Cayala is very pretty and safe – with many high end shops and restaurants.

I met some work colleagues for an Italian dinner at Tre Fratelli on Monday night.  We sat outside and it was very chilly for Guatemala (high 50s).  I needed my puffer coat as the evening cooled off, with no humidity at all.  The city is at 5,000 feet and so cools quite quickly this time of year.

Here’s a picture of a volcano spouting in the distance, taken from my hotel room balcony:

Tuesday breakfast was at Cafe Saul – a great spot that I found on my last visit.  It’s so nice to be able to get a perfect macchiato with no fuss.

My first meeting of the day was a one on one with Jorge, and we decided to sit out on the patio of Cafe Barista and enjoy another coffee.  Such a pleasant way to do business and get caught up before the rest of the day inside.

Lunch was again enjoyed al fresco – this time a Greek place called Arena.  The pulpo (octopus) and falafel were both delicious, and the setting delightful.

After a long afternoon of team meetings, we enjoyed a seafood dinner at Atuna.  The croquette appetizer was delicious and then I enjoyed a very impressive lobster thermidor.

Sunset behind the volcanoes after dinner was quite something:

Back in Pacifica, the girls were enjoying the sunny day and then afternoon tea – complete with some very fancy finger sandwiches.

Diana sent me this lovely video of Frankie showing me her penguin sweatshirt.  She can be so adorable when she’s not being quite stubborn and opinionated:

Wednesday was another busy day of meeting various teams.  That was followed by a steak dinner with the leadership team at Montanos.  We had a private room with a TV that allowed us to share videos and photos of hobbies.  Damon gave a short talk about his basement garden where he grows peppers and vegetables during the winter.  Josue shared videos of him drumming with his band that won the Guatemalan Battle of the Bands contest.  A fun evening.

With the new US COVID rules – test no more than 24 hours prior to flight departure, I had to take a test before dinner.  Here I am working away while awaiting the test:

We met with our Project Management team on Thursday morning, enjoyed another delicious lunch at Arena, and then made our way to the airport for the flight home.  I had an Ensalada Fatouch that was very fresh and yummy.  Finn always has a chuckle about “Fatouch”.  I don’t really remember why – think there was somebody he worked with that liked it.

I was fortunate again, with a smooth and on time flight.  Customs at DFW was very quick and I just had to wait a short while for Diana to arrive from San Francisco.

It’s always pleasant to return to my home office, and I worked in it most of Friday morning.  Then we picked up Finn from work and had lunch at the Mexican Cactus.  Diana tried the ceviche with barramundi and it was really fresh and delicious.

Will supervised the loading of Finn’s car on to a transporter that should deliver it here on Tuesday.  Will has put a lot of time and money into getting the car absolutely perfect for Finn to enjoy.  I only have a limited number of days to wake up at 4:30am to deliver Finn to work, and I know the retiree is quite happy about that.

Jens and Glenda are coming over for dinner tonight.  We’re looking forward to it as it has been months since we’ve caught up with them.  I think McD is planning her excellent shrimp and scallops – yum!

“The Blue Hour” by Douglas Kennedy was my companion on the trip this week.  What a well written and constructed book.  I was hooked on the first page and wasn’t disappointed after that.  Page one:

“First Light.  And I didn’t know where I was anymore.

The sky outside: was it a curved rotunda of emerging blue?  The world was still blurred at its edges.  I tried to piece together my whereabouts, the exact geographic location within which I found myself.  A sliver of emerging clarity.  Or maybe just a few basic facts.

I was on a plane.  A plane that had just flown all night across the Atlantic.  A plane bound for a corner of North Africa.  A country which, when viewed cartographically, looks like a skullcap abreast a continent.  According to the flight progress monitor illuminating the back-of-the-seat screen facing me, we were still seventy-three minutes and 842 kilometers (I was flying into a metric world) from our destination.  The journey hadn’t been my idea.  Rather I’d allowed myself to be romanced into it by the man whose oversize frame (as in six foot four) was scrunched into the tiny seat next to mine.  The middle seat in this horror movie of an aircraft.”

A good plot summary from Amazon:

“Robin knew Paul wasn’t perfect. But he said they were so lucky to have found each other, and she believed it was true. When he suggests a month in Morocco—where he once lived and worked, a place where the modern meets the medieval—Robin reluctantly agrees.

Once immersed into the swirling, white-hot exotica of a walled city on the North African Atlantic coast, Robin finds herself acclimatizing to its wonderful strangeness. Paul is everything she wants him to be—passionate, talented, knowledgeable. She is convinced that it is here that she will finally become pregnant.

But then Paul suddenly disappears, and Robin finds herself the prime suspect in the police inquiry. As her understanding of the truth starts to unravel, Robin lurches from the crumbling art deco of Casablanca to the daunting Sahara, caught in an increasingly terrifying spiral from which there is no easy escape.

For fans of thought-provoking page-turners such as The Talented Mr. Ripley, Douglas Kennedy’s The Blue Hour is a roller-coaster journey into a heart of darkness that asks the question: What would you do if your life depended on it?”

An example of the excellent descriptions:

“Simo insisted that I sit in the backseat, where I had both windows wide open to rid the car of his incessant cloud of smoke, and to provide some ventilation on a torpid night when the humidity and the actual mercury level made the air seem as glutinous as maple syrup.”

For a pleasant change, the ending of this story wasn’t rushed but unfolded at just the rate pace.

I really enjoyed the story, the writing style and the surprising twists of this book very much.  I understand that Kennedy is much better known in the UK and France than in the US, and maybe those folks appreciate this kind of writing for the same reasons that I do.

Cafe Saul in Guatemala plays an eclectic mix of music, with some really unusual covers of popular songs.  I had to use Shazam to identify who was playing this hit from David Bowie.  A typically subtle arrangement from M. Ward:

Something from my Spotify Discovery Weekly list.  The level of musicianship on a Bela Fleck album is always extraordinary:

A song from The National that I think I heard on a movie soundtrack, but can’t remember the details:

And lastly, a lovely song from the excellent Rodney Crowell:

Stay safe and kind!

Week in Review – January 9th, 2022

“Congratulations to Retired D!”

This was the big retirement week for Diana.  Can you believe it?  Yes, after more than 35 years battling away in the IT world, she’s going to become what her Mom describes as “A Lady of Leisure.”

If you have worked with Diana, then you know nothing is done half-way.  This was true of the last week also, with several 5:50am alarms to make sure she was fully prepped for her 7:00am calls.  Here she is leading her last ever Thursday morning 7:00am call:

You can tell from the layers that it’s been very cold outside this week – temperatures down around 20 degrees Fahrenheit in the mornings.

Friday was retirement day, and flowers and cards arrived to celebrate McD.

Here she is with the official retirement sign:

If you didn’t zoom in, here’s what the top part says:

I thought I was pretty funny with that one.

Diana showed me over 60 congratulations emails that she received during the week.  Very impressive, I certainly don’t think there will be that many people sending me notes if I retire.  Here’s the farewell note she sent to her NTT colleagues:

Scott is going to try and replace Diana, and he must have had the most complete turnover that I’ve ever seen.  Would you expect anything less?

We enjoyed a lovely retirement dinner at C.T. Provisions on Friday, with Brent as our waiter.  Finn and Alicia were able to join us.  The food, company, and service were all excellent.  Diana toasted her retirement with an Old Cuban (first experienced at the Moonshiner speakeasy in Paris.)  C.T.’s was very busy, and Finn got a kick out of watching Brent buzzing around.  Here’s D reading Finn’s retirement card, I think she liked his message about “sip and dip” and “fun in the sun”:

We tortured the kids with a mathematics problem during dinner.  I was impressed that Finn remembered the order of operations and was able to get it right on the first attempt:

Yes – that’s the kind of exciting stuff we do when out for dinner.

So, what do you do with your first day of retirement.  Well….it seems you get up early and attack one of your Christmas jigsaw puzzles.  In this case, a hummingbird shaped challenge from my Mum.

You can see that the outline had to be completed before we decided to get dressed for the day.  As I sit here at almost 1pm on Sunday, the puzzle is more than 90% complete.  I’ve heard a lot of comments about how difficult this puzzle is – apparently all the pieces are almost exactly the same shape and size.  I remember watching an interview with Rob Gronkowski after he retired from the Patriots and the NFL.  He was doing a jigsaw puzzle and talking about how it was helping to heal his brain.  I think D is substituting one challenge for another, and hopefully doesn’t do what Gronk did and come right back out of retirement.  I don’t think I’d put any money on that happening.

Changing locations to Stewarton, Scotland.  Mum sent this lovely picture of a snow scene in the back garden.  Pretty to look at, but not ideal for driving.

Late breaking news, as I finish up this post, the puzzle was just completed.  It’s a very pretty one.

And lastly, happy 26th birthday to Campbell, celebrating in San Diego yesterday, and finally feeling much better today.  We’ll see you in New Orleans soon Campbell.

I thoroughly enjoyed “South and West: A Notebook” by Joan Didion this week.  After her passing a couple of weeks ago, this was the only one of her books available at the library, and fortuitously, one of the few that I haven’t read at least once.  She is one of those authors whose books you have to read a few times to really fully appreciate.

The book traces a road trip she took with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, in June 1970, through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. She interviews prominent local figures, describes motels, diners, a deserted reptile farm, a visit with Walker Percy, and a ladies’ brunch at the Mississippi Broadcasters’ Convention.

From the Foreword:

“The idea was to start in New Orleans and from there we had no plan.

This has been the idea of so many people who have come to New Orleans.  It was the idea of the French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who in 1684 set out to establish a city near the base of the Mississippi River, only to fail to find the river’s mouth from the Gulf of Mexico and, after three years, to be murdered by his mutinous crew.

It was the idea of William Faulkner, who quit his job as postmaster at the University of Mississippi and moved to New Orleans because he despised taking orders, and of Tennessee Williams, who wrote in his diary, ‘Here surely is the place that I was made for if any place on this funny old world.’  One does not have to stay long to learn how easily plans in New Orleans, like its houses, become waterlogged and subside into the mud, breaking to pieces.”

She writes about the stifling heat, the slow pace of life, and the preoccupation with race, class, and heritage she finds in the small towns they pass through. And from a different notebook: the “California Notes” that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976. Though Didion never wrote the piece, watching the trial and being in San Francisco triggered thoughts about the city, its social hierarchy, the Hearsts, and her own upbringing in Sacramento.

Back in New Orleans:

“In New Orleans, the old people sitting in front of houses and hotels on St. Charles Avenue, barely rocking.  They have mastered the art of the motionless.”

“They had many suggestions for understanding the South.  I must walk Bourbon or Royal to Chartres, I must walk Chartres to Esplanade.  I must have coffee and doughnuts in the French Market.  I should not miss St. Louis Cathedral, the Presbytere, the Cabildo.  We should have lunch at Galatoire’s (where I had my bachelor party lunch): trout almondine or trout Marguery.   We should have dinner at Manale’s (where Diana has her oyster meetings with the girls), tour Coliseum Square Park.  I should appreciate the grace, the beauty of their way of life.”

Some classic Didion as her road trip moves on to Mississippi:

“A somnolence so dense it seemed to inhibit breathing hung over Hattiesburg, Mississippi, at two or three o’clock of that Sunday afternoon.  There was no place to get lunch, no place to get gas.  On the wide leafy streets the white houses were set back.  Sometimes I would see a face at a window.”

I highly recommend this short book.  A delightful afternoon read.

Here’s an interesting version of the Todd Rundgren classic that I stumbled on this week.  Rick Wakeman doing his thing on keyboards:

It would have been David Bowie’s 75th birthday yesterday, he shares it with Campbell.  So here’s a couple of my favourites:

Keeping the Rick Wakeman theme alive, here’s his excellent take on the same song:

We had tickets to watch a Bowie cover band celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” on Friday night, but decided it would be safer to have a local dinner.  Here’s my favourite from that classic album:

Stay safe and be kind!